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Timothy and the Phubbers
Timothy Pong has enough trouble at home without throwing his first year of secondary school into the mix. The Pong family only interact with each other through digital machines rather than human contact. Twelve-year-old Timothy is too young to own a phone, according to his mum, so he hasn’t actually spoken to his family in years as he can’t WhatsApp his parents or Snapchat his older sister.
Even worse, the most menacing bully in school, who also just happens to be the prettiest girl Timothy has ever seen, has plucked him out as her new favourite target. Luckily, Timothy has a few ideas up his sleeve to survive Secondary One, as well as the help of his undernourished friend Rudy, who, when not helping Timothy, can be found eating grass in the school field.
When their first plan goes horribly wrong and Timothy is caught on camera with his pants down—the most embarrassing three minutes of fame ever—the two friends must up their game if they’re to expose the conniving Bella, ace their Science project, and learn how an old-fashioned camera they first mistook for a hairdryer might be the answer to their prayers.
Even worse, the most menacing bully in school, who also just happens to be the prettiest girl Timothy has ever seen, has plucked him out as her new favourite target. Luckily, Timothy has a few ideas up his sleeve to survive Secondary One, as well as the help of his undernourished friend Rudy, who, when not helping Timothy, can be found eating grass in the school field.
When their first plan goes horribly wrong and Timothy is caught on camera with his pants down—the most embarrassing three minutes of fame ever—the two friends must up their game if they’re to expose the conniving Bella, ace their Science project, and learn how an old-fashioned camera they first mistook for a hairdryer might be the answer to their prayers.
240 pages, Paperback
Published April 1, 2018
10 people want to read
About the author
Ken Kwek
3 books4 followersKen Kwek is a screenwriter, film director and playwright. He spent his childhood watching movies on an ancient machine called a VHS player. Ken studied literature at the University of Cambridge and dramatic writing at New York University. He worked as a journalist and a cook for a few years, then wrote and directed several movies that (unfortunately) cannot be viewed on a VHS player. Timothy and the Phubbers is his first children’s novel.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 18, 2021
Phubbers are a subspecies of human beings. They can be identified by the faint, but persistent, glow of LED light on their faces.
I think this is the closest we've got to a Singaporean Roald Dahl book, from Kwek's rib-tickling turns of phrase to Chiong's perfect Quentin Blake-like illustrations. But as glorious a good time that already sounds, after reading it all I think this story has actually not much more than that to offer. As much as I enjoyed the story, the final bit felt unsatisfyingly rushed and I'm honestly a little gutted if I may say so.
Our protagonist Timothy is a 12-year-old boy who is constantly attacked and robbed of his pocket money and food by three malicious bullies on his first day of secondary school. Though he is not alone in his suffering as the bullies also target his bottomless pit of a best friend, Rudy, they can't seek help from anyone at all: especially Timothy, as he is from a family of hopeless phone-addicted 'phubbers' who won't talk to him unless he texts them through Whatsapp. When the bullies take it a step further by destroying Timothy's group project for the school science fair, they band together with Timothy's old-fashioned Uncle Russ Tee and his bulky Bolex camera to make a vintage movie for their new project— and plot to film the bullies in action.
The story started out wonderfully. The satire and humour were always on the mark and hilariously over-the-top, and Kwek's knowledge as a filmmaker really shone through when the kids were learning to use the Bolex and develop the film. Even the hit the bullseye for me, but that's where I have to be honest with my thoughts: is that it??
Throughout the story, the bullies are all terrible, feral-like creatures who pick on Timothy because he's small and can't truly put up a fight. And don't even get me started about Bella, who even Timothy correctly defines as the most devious of them all. It was so, so great to finally see her get her comeuppance— but that's it. One of the other three bullies is just . I know there's an art and even hilarity in not getting all of the answers or seeing every single detail in a book, BUT COME ON!! Let them have it!!! Walao eh!!!!!
But overall: I thought this story was truly delightful and genuinely very funny. This was the kind of book I would've killed to read during my own arduous years of secondary school. I was never bullied as terribly as Timothy was, but God do I wish I had his courage to usurp the phubbers and the devious classmates who smacked me for reading. I hope to read more of Kwek's work in the future!
I think this is the closest we've got to a Singaporean Roald Dahl book, from Kwek's rib-tickling turns of phrase to Chiong's perfect Quentin Blake-like illustrations. But as glorious a good time that already sounds, after reading it all I think this story has actually not much more than that to offer. As much as I enjoyed the story, the final bit felt unsatisfyingly rushed and I'm honestly a little gutted if I may say so.
Our protagonist Timothy is a 12-year-old boy who is constantly attacked and robbed of his pocket money and food by three malicious bullies on his first day of secondary school. Though he is not alone in his suffering as the bullies also target his bottomless pit of a best friend, Rudy, they can't seek help from anyone at all: especially Timothy, as he is from a family of hopeless phone-addicted 'phubbers' who won't talk to him unless he texts them through Whatsapp. When the bullies take it a step further by destroying Timothy's group project for the school science fair, they band together with Timothy's old-fashioned Uncle Russ Tee and his bulky Bolex camera to make a vintage movie for their new project— and plot to film the bullies in action.
The story started out wonderfully. The satire and humour were always on the mark and hilariously over-the-top, and Kwek's knowledge as a filmmaker really shone through when the kids were learning to use the Bolex and develop the film. Even the hit the bullseye for me, but that's where I have to be honest with my thoughts: is that it??
Throughout the story, the bullies are all terrible, feral-like creatures who pick on Timothy because he's small and can't truly put up a fight. And don't even get me started about Bella, who even Timothy correctly defines as the most devious of them all. It was so, so great to finally see her get her comeuppance— but that's it. One of the other three bullies is just . I know there's an art and even hilarity in not getting all of the answers or seeing every single detail in a book, BUT COME ON!! Let them have it!!! Walao eh!!!!!
But overall: I thought this story was truly delightful and genuinely very funny. This was the kind of book I would've killed to read during my own arduous years of secondary school. I was never bullied as terribly as Timothy was, but God do I wish I had his courage to usurp the phubbers and the devious classmates who smacked me for reading. I hope to read more of Kwek's work in the future!
January 18, 2024
A crazy, funny read highly remeniscient of Roald Dahl. Glad to have found a awesome children's book in local literature that blended high quality writing with an exciting story.
July 20, 2018
This book. This book man. I loved it. My kid loved it. We both laughed out loud multiple times. The illustrations are great. The story is great. But now my kid won't stop calling me a "phubber" Everytime I touch my phone. I can't even check the time without being called a phubber. Damnit. Would've got 6 stars otherwise.
June 13, 2018
Funny book with lots of lines for the adult to chuckle at, I laughed out loud a few times reading this! It slumped slightly two-thirds into the book but it could be because the front started out with such a bang. So excited to see this enter the annals of SingLit for kids. Looking forward to more!
May 13, 2019
Novel berilustrasi.
Sebenarnya pesannya bagus, tapi ada banyak adegan kekerasan fisik yang nggak oke buat dibaca anak kecil. Gue aja nggak nyaman bacanya...
Sebenarnya pesannya bagus, tapi ada banyak adegan kekerasan fisik yang nggak oke buat dibaca anak kecil. Gue aja nggak nyaman bacanya...
April 5, 2020
Hilarious book! Great for kids to adults. Easy read, and wonderful that it’s SingLit!
November 29, 2022
Young Adult fiction in a local context is hard to find and one with this standard of writing is rare, so I’m glad I read this one! The characters are unique and lovable and the plot is hilarious!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews